Chuck Most

I'd really like to see the AMT 'Hogan's Heroes' Jeep in the first photo reissued... or is that the Italeri kit? Either way!

WARNING: CONTENT AHEAD WHICH RELIES HEAVILY UPON MY MEMORY: There was a company called 'Scale Squads that did a resin grille for the '77 Monaco kit to turn it into a '75(?) Fury- I don't remember the exact year, but it had the round headlamps as shown in Gasman's picture. He also did a couple of different year Dodge and Plymouth grilles for this same kit, as well as the Mopar cop six-hole wheels and hubcaps with the holes punched in them. Terry himself covered them in an old "Light Commercial" column years ago... I don't recall the exact issue, but I think it was a few years after the 'Joker's Goon Car' repop of this kit. (Of course, I'm talking about the other magazine... I won't mention it by name, but it rhymes with 'Snail Otto'.)

OR... dig this... the Stig is James May's mom! Remember the episode when Jeremy, Richard, and James had their moms test the cars, and James' mom was blowing everybody away? More ridiculous than my first theory, but I'd say it's got at LEAST a .02% probability of being true!

A Sock motor in a Jeepster? Man, those MPC dudes must've been heavy into the hallucinogens! Still, the idea of a Jeepster pushed with a 427 Cammer makes me giddy as a schoolgirl... if I had, say, sixty grand or so to blow, I'd do it in 1:1 scale! I have the Mount'n Goat reissue, and I have to say the Buick 225 odd-fire six is very nice (I've used it in a T-Bucket build), and it still includes the CJ-style Jeepster grille (with the turn signals up over the fenders), but not the appropriate fenders or hood. Sadly, the snowplow is no longer part of the deal, but it's available in resin from Repicas and Miniatures Company of Maryland. That was the first resin part I ever puchased. I'd buy ten more of the Mount'n Goat reissues, if I could find 'em!

There's also a die-cast pull-back toy of the Prius by Kinsmart. I don't recall for sure- but I think it's 1/50 scale (it's about four inches long). Now that everybody is done laughing- those Kinsmart 'kids toys' are actually pretty detailed for what they are. They also have a Dodge Power Wagon concept, a Dodge Caliber, and a '98-'03 Ford Crown Vic Police car. I have the Caliber and two of the Crown Vics (one of which I plan to convert into an '03 Mercury Marauder). They're pretty nicely detailed, the proportions look good, and they cost about five bucks. Sure, the doors open on big bulky dogleg hinges, and the chassis have little to no detail at all, but they're almost too nice to be toys! I like Bob's idea- if ever a kit needed and electric motor and battery pack... a Prius kit would be the one! Personally, though, I'd much rather have a kit of a first-gen Honda Insight. Yeah, I know it's not a 'true' hybrid (the gas engine is always running), but it looks way cooler than the Prius and the new Insight, which looks exactly like the Prius. Who was it that said "Modern cars are designed by the wind, and the wind always says the same thing"?

Again Terry- thanks a zillion! Ah. Still not the best engineered car ever, but I can almost trust a Deville! My boss' wife is driving her old Crown Vic 'cuz her Catera was sick... turned out to be a broken timing belt, which led to a couple bent valves. Like I told him- "Good thing she kept the Ford handy!"

The pedal/shifter setup, and transmission disagreeing with one another are pretty common on the old AMT and MPC kits. In fact- I think even the new AMT Challenger has a clutch pedal, despite the fact there's an automatic tranny molded into the chassis! And that screw post won't be hidden- you're better off just cutting it out and either scratching a new radiator core support or raiding one from another kit. (I think the most recent reissue of this kit included a second core support with a molded-in radiator.) Some issues of this kit even have a '70 GTO nose in them for no explicable reason. Yeah, this kit's a bit crude, but it can be built into quite a presentable model. And it's quite a bit better than the MPC '72 GTO (shudder)!

I've only ever built one Hasegawa VW (the '67 Pickup), I think I paid $20 (plus Michigan's 6% sales tax) two years ago. I don't remember having any significant hiccups with the build... that's usually a sign of a pretty good kit! This Samba Bus, though, is giving me serious pause! It's not assembling the thing that's worrying me, it's painting everything! Something I didn't consider when I bought it! A few guys have asked, and there've been a few answers on the year of the Samba Bus, but I think in the Revell Catalog, it's listed as a '62. I'm no VW expert, but from the photos of 1:1 busses I've seen, it seems right, or at least in the ballpark.

This kit is pretty dreadful, but you're doing a bang up job of bringing it up to snuff!

I believe the AMT '25 Model T came with a 430 MEL. The '66-'67 AMT Lincoln annuals had a better version of the MEL (stock only) but good luck finding one today! I think Missing Link did a resin repop of the 462.

Not really... that's pretty much how I spend every Friday evening!

James 'Captain Slow' May is The Stig Crazy theory? Yes! It's the perfect subterfuge...

Hey, Pat Covert! When did you show up! I still use the (orange) tube glue on 'less than crucial' jobs, but I've pretty much defected to Tenax, Permatex Epoxy, and Loctite Super Glue for all my sticking-my-fingers-to-everything needs! My rule of thumb- avoid the blue tubes as if they are crawling with Swine Flu. It's okay for gluing clear parts... but not much else, and besides, there are plenty of better glues for clear parts anyway!

I just assumed that somebody had cobbled up a Cameo using '58-'59 Fleetside panels. Yeah. That's what I thought...

Why would a Jeep kit come with a 427 Sock motor? Or was it just in the box when you found it?

Doesn't happen to be a Catera, by any chance...? They're Ford products but a Mercury or Lincoln is not a Ford. That's why they have entirely different names! There are Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealers, and Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealers, but nobody confuses, say, a Pontiac G6 with a GMC C4500! Terry- is there a link to your pictures anywhere? I've scanned Fotki and Photobucket endlessly and have found zilch!

Reason #77,894 I never sell anything...

Sheez, Harry, I could've told you that fifteen years ago! Still, I must say it- seven of the ten voices in my head would rather look at a stray Aztek than, say, a parking lot full of silver and tan Tauruses.... Or would 'Tauri' be the plural for Taurus? Anywho- there's my take!

Ha! 'Upscale Malibu'!!!! That's like saying you live in a 'nice slum' or referring to yourself as an 'upwardly mobile drifter'! Still like the '10 Tucker, though!

Best engines? I've got a few favorites. Warning- my biases may show a bit! Chevy 350- no. 383- no. 454- no. 502- none in scale that I know of, though a 454 could be a stand in. 572- see '502' Corvette’s Family- not a family I belong to There is a nice 265 in the '55 Cameo, and a nice parts pack 283 from AMT. They're about the only SBCs I use. Ford Flathead- AMT '49 Merc, AMT '34 Ford, Lindberg '53 Fords, Revell '40 Ford Coupes (stock or rod), Revell '32 Ford Tudor. 289- New tool AMT '67 Mustangs 302- Revell '32 Fords and Mercury Cougar XR-7 331- Uh... if you mean three FIFTY one, the AMT F-150s have a nice 351, though it's pretty much indistinguishable from the 260/289/302 (in 1/25 scale, anyhow). 347- Never heard of a 347... a stroker, perhaps? 427- For the standard FE version, I'd go with the Revell '64 T-Bolt/Fairlane. The Revell Parts pack version is also great. For the Cammer, I'd go with either the one in the AMT '33 Willys Coupe or Panel, or the ones in the '66 Galaxie, '68 Shelby GT500, or '69 Galaxie. Ford Inline Six- Anything ever kitted, from the AMT and Johan 170's (or the resin repops thereof), or Ken Kitchen's Flathead I-6. Dodge 426 Hemi- Anything EXCEPT the old AMT stuff, or the Lindberg '72 Challenger. 340 V8- AMT '71 Duster 426 V8- '64 Plymouth by Lindberg, or the wild Ross Gibson 'Sonoramic' Version Slant Six- Lindberg '64 Plymouth (best scale slant sixer EVER)! Pontiac 400- Revell '68 Firebird... since the Pontiac mill didn't change much over the years, the Revell '66 GTO or the AMT '62 Catalina or Parts Pack 421 could stand in for a 400. Cadillac- Revell '49 Merc, Revell Parts Pack Buick- AMT '66 Riviera 425 Nailhead V8 Oddballs AMT '53/'64 Studebaker V8 AMT '41 Plymouth Flathead I-6

I know where you're coming from Codie! I'm a man possessed until I see a project through to completion! Love the truck- nicely built, and a very unusual subject!

Not a huge fan of Porsches myself, but your model is killer! A very nice outcome for a kit that, judging from what you said, isn't the greatest!

Glad to see it didn't get crushed! Nicely done, my man! What the world needs more of right now is more Lincoln models, especially ones this sick! And Harold's right- it is a '65. Wouldn't mind a '66 or '67 Connie in kit form, though!

Tim- About all I did was spray the seat with the overall color I wanted (Rustoleum Nutmeg Satin, in this case), and then gave it a wash of thinned flat black acrylic paint to grunge it up a bit, as well as to bring out the really nice stitch detail in the '41 Ford seat. It's one of the easiest detailing tricks out there- try it out and see for yourself!

All I got this time around were a couple of AMT repops- '33 Willys Coupe White-Freightliner Dual Drive Cabover I also picked up a couple bottles of Tenax and a few cans of Testors One Coat. Still need to get some sandpaper and Loctite super glue, but that can wait- I've got all the major bases covered! Next up, hopefully I'll be getting a Transtar and a '49 Ford kit... if/when the money situation gets better!